What is the difference between content writing and content marketing?

Content writing and content marketing are often used interchangeably in the marketing world, but these two disciplines have slight differences.

Content has become a popular marketing tool for businesses of all sizes, giving them a voice that builds trust, raising brand awareness and much more.

However, there is much more to content creation than just publishing some views in a blog post.

To get the most out of content, you need to think about everything from what you publish to how you publish it, when to publish and how it serves different marketing requirements.

As content creation has become more sophisticated, different specialities have emerged in the space like content writing and content marketing.

Broadly speaking, content writing is about producing articles or written copy for any content medium, such as social media posts, while content marketing looks at the broader strategy of creating content and how it fulfils marketing objectives.

Here are some key distinctions between content writing and content marketing:

What is content writing?

First and foremost, the purpose of content is about speaking directly to a particular audience.

Content writing focuses on written content which can be used across blog posts, social media posts, video and audio recordings, web pages and more.

Good content needs to be clear, concise, well-researched and written in the right style and voice for the topic in order to grab the reader’s attention.

For articles, be sure to include a compelling headline, images and clear subheadings to introduce new concepts, as well as a call to action at the end of the article.

What is content marketing?

Content marketing includes content writing but focuses on the broader strategy across all content pillars. It factors in other areas of marketing like search engine optimisation (SEO) and social media.